The Exact Same Shade
by firebolt2398
Summary: As Holden walks through the park on the day of his date with Sally, he meets a very interesting girl- who's eyes are the same color as Allie's. One-Shot with an OC. In between the time Holden talks to the girl with the roller skates and his date with Sally. Fairly fluffy. T for the language that Holden uses, nothing to rough.


_A/N: Hey guys! Basically, this was an experiment in seeing how closely I can write to Salinger's style, and I figured I'd try it with an OC. I'd love your feedback, and thanks for reading!_

While I was walking towards the museum, I started hearing this music. It sounded like some sort of guitar, and I wondered if it was one of those street performers. The only thing was, it was so cold out, I couldn't imagine anybody playing any instruments for too long.

I kept walking, and the music kept growing louder. After a minute or so I was able to see who was playing in this crazy weather. Turns out, it was some girl just standing there, strumming away and singing. I didn't think she was playing for money, 'cause the case was all closed and propped up against a tree. She didn't even have any goddam gloves on, even though it was so cold out. I kinda had a feeling that there could be a blizzard and she wouldn't stop playing.

I sorta stood there and watched her for awhile. She was kinda pretty, but not movie star pretty. She wasn't wearing any make-up or anything. I guess she looked real, and that was pretty in itself. Her hair was longish, and sometimes she pushed it away with her elbow or something when it fell in her face. I think she saw me watching her for awhile, 'cause she looked at me a few times and smiled. Boy, she was playing that guitar real good, and her voice sounded a bit like the woman on the Shirley Bean record I bought for Phoebe. Not all dainty and cutesy. I think if she did play during a blizzard, I'd probably stand out there and listen to her.

After she finished her song, I walked over to her. I wanted to give her some money or something, since she was playing so good and it was so goddam cold out. I'm pretty sure she did notice me watching her, 'cause she didn't start her next song right away like most of those street guys do.

"I was wondering if I could give you a few dollars," I said to her. "Your music was quite excellent." Her mouth broke into this big toothy grin and she laughed. She had a very nice laugh, one of those full laughs that you can't ever fake. I almost started laughing too. It really was a nice laugh.

"Thank you, but I'm not accepting any," she said, still smiling. "This is just something I do for fun. That's very kind of you, though."

"Oh." I wasn't sure what to say next. What do you say to someone who thinks its fun to play a guitar in December with no gloves on? I almost walked away, but then I got a look at her eyes. They were the same shade as Allie's. The exact same shade. "Do you want to sit down?" I gestured to a bench behind us.

She looked at me a few seconds before replying. "Sure," she said. She still had that crazy smile on.

"I'm Holden, by the way," I said.

"Penny," she said, and she shook my hand. I almost laughed at that. You normally don't see girls shaking hands. It's kinda cute when they do it though.

We sat down on the bench behind her. It felt like sitting on a block of ice. "You from around here?" I asked her.

"Yeah. My parents are from Brooklyn, but I'm Manhattan, born and raised. You?"

"Me too. I mean, I don't spend a lot of time here, 'cause my parents are always shipping me off to these crazy boarding schools. Only, I keep getting kicked out."

"I'd probably do the same thing. Get kicked out," she said. She wasn't looking at me, but out at the people passing by. "They tried to send me to one, my folks. I wouldn't let them."

"How'd you do that?" God, if she could teach me how to do that with my parents, I'd be the happiest guy in the world.

"I ran away." She kinda chuckled at that. Then she finally looked at me. Her eyes seemed far-off, like on some distant planet. "I didn't really run, not like kids do in movies. I have an uncle who lives across town, and he likes me a helluva lot more than they do. When I got there, he called my folks, and they didn't seem to care. So I've been staying with him. That was two years ago."

"I'd like to run away," I said. "Somewhere warm. I hate all this goddam snow and cold. I mean, it's real nice when you're younger because you go ice skating and have snowball fights and school gets cancelled, but now…" I couldn't think of what to say next. To be honest, I'm surprised I said as much as I did. As a rule, I try not to talk about myself with strangers, especially truthfully. But for whatever reason, I was talking to Jessie. Maybe it was because I was lonely as hell. Maybe it was because her eyes were like Allie's.

"I don't mind the cold," she said. "'Specially during this time of year. Christmas in the city is my absolute favorite. I always feel kind of warm and festive inside, like this is the one time of year that everything is going swell."

That was another phrase I couldn't stand, 'absolute favorite'. Incredibly phony. Except, it didn't sound that way coming from her. It sounded okay, and for just a second, I felt that warm feeling she described.

We sat there in silence for a few moments. Then I thought of something.

"Say, you wanna go to the museum with me?" I said suddenly. She look puzzled.

"What?"

"The museum. You know, the one with the Indians and stuff. Do you wanna go?" Penny stared at me for a bit, those eyes looking straight into mine.

"Okay," she said. She got up and slung her guitar case over her shoulder, and we started walking. While we did, she kept pointing out different sights to me, like statues she really liked, or certain people who were always in the same place at the same time every day. She seemed pretty knowledgable about the whole park, so I decided to ask her about the ducks.

"Hey, Penny," I said."You don't happen to know where the ducks go in the wintertime, do ya? You know, when the lagoon freezes over, and they have no where else to go?" She thought about it for a second before she spoke.

"I think they fly away," she said, thinking hard. "I think maybe, somewhere down south, there's a whole 'nother lagoon they go to where it's nice and warm. And then once it thaws up here, they fly back." I wasn't sure if I liked that idea. It seemed like an awful lot of work, moving from place to place, trying to be comfortable. Wouldn't it just be easier to settle down in that one warm spot and stay there, instead of flying all over the place? I kept thinking about it all the way to the museum.

For a Saturday, the museum wasn't that crowded. Maybe it was the cold and no one wanted to leaves their homes. I know that if I had the choice between being stuck in a crummy apartment all day or going to the museum, I'd go to the museum. It always seemed warm and cozy inside, no matter how big and open the exhibits are,

The second we got in there, Penny's eyes lit up. She looked around completely in awe.

"You ever been here before?" I asked her.

"'Course. It just blows me away every time." I got a bang out of that. I think it's great when a person can see the same thing over and over again and still get excited about it.

Now that we were warm, I took my hat off. I hadn't realized I was wearing it the whole time I was walking there with Jessie, and I felt kinda embarrassed. I didn't want to look strange or anything. Except, as soon as I took it off, Penny put it back on me again.

"I like the hat," she said, smiling. "You should keep it on." I smiled back and left it on. Why the hell not? I wasn't gonna see anybody I knew, and if I did, I didn't think I'd care.

So that's how we went around the museum, me in my hunting hat and Penny with her crazy guitar strapped to her back. Jessie's one of those people who are really good to walk around museums with. She takes her time and looks at everything, but not too long, so you're not dragging her around everywhere. She didn't follow any of those schedules where we have to see this and this and then throws a fit when we don't. We kinda just wandered, not talking much unless we saw something really interesting. At one point, we ended up in front of this huge diorama, the one with the Eskimos. We stood there for awhile, totally silent, and I held her hand. I really wanted to hold her hand, so I did. I'm glad I did too.

We didn't stay too long after that, since I made that damn date with Sally. I said goodbye to her on the steps. She was smiling that crazy smile again. I watched her walk away, all the way down the street, until I couldn't see her big old guitar case anymore. I never saw her again. I wish I did, though. I can't get her eyes out of my head, the same color as Allie's.


End file.
